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Monday, November 6, 2006

In Condom News

posted by on November 6 at 13:28 PM

I’m not sure what to make of these two unrelated developments in the world of condoms:

Trojan is marketing a new brand of condoms, called “Elexa,” targeted exclusively at women. “By protecting ourselves, we can also help protect each other,” Elexa’s hyper-feminine pink-and-purple web site proclaims.

And in South Africa, condom manufacturers are promoting “fast condoms” in hopes of preventing the spread of HIV. The condoms, which don’t have to be unwrapped, take one second to put on—”three seconds if you’re slow,” the manufacturer says.

On the one hand, it’s good to see campaigns encouraging men to take responsibility for their reproductive health (and their partners’). Women pay around 70 percent more than men for birth control every year—one year of birth control pills costs around $300—so I’m all for a little equity. On the other, do companies still have to hold a man’s hands just to get him to put on a rubber? Really?

RSS icon Comments

1

For every man not wearing a rubber, there's a woman (or another man) not insisting that he wear one. STD prevention is everybody's responsibility.

Posted by It Takes Two | November 6, 2006 1:56 PM
2

interesting to note that elexa is at a different price point than trojan labeled condoms. my local pharmacy has a $3 difference in price, but the product is not so different!

Posted by inequity continued | November 6, 2006 2:26 PM
3

Give me convenience or give me death.

Posted by elenchos | November 6, 2006 2:30 PM
4

Lowest common denominator, Erica.

For humans, that's very, very low indeed.

Posted by Monkey | November 6, 2006 2:54 PM
5

Yes, Erica, the answer is yes!

Posted by Suz | November 6, 2006 2:56 PM
6

Um. Well. Err.

Yes.

Posted by Will in Seattle | November 6, 2006 3:45 PM
7

How am I supposed to get this fucking rubber on if you won't let go of my hands?

Posted by Fnarf | November 6, 2006 4:15 PM
8

It Takes Two:
Yeah, duh. The point is that, for the most part, women are left in de facto charge of contraception/STD prevention.

Posted by didn't need that $300 anyway | November 6, 2006 4:32 PM
9

I'll give you that they're in charge of contraception, since, you know, they're the ones who get pregnant, so it seems to make sense. STD prevention, I don't see it, except as a byproduct of ONE kind of contraception. Everybody has to do it or it doesn't matter.

Posted by It Takes Two | November 6, 2006 4:40 PM
10

HOLD MY PENIS I'M SO SCARED

Ahem... rip and wrap, it ain't that harERRRRRR difficult.

Posted by Gomez | November 6, 2006 5:50 PM
11

A comment and a question:

1. Sometimes when one gets around to trying to open the package, one's fingers are slippery --- I mean, it's a good sign if they are --- and it can be hard, er, frusrating, er difficult to rip it open.

2. Wasn't it Trojan that for a very short time used the logan "Trust Trojans, they're the brand your father used..."?

Posted by Eric | November 6, 2006 7:01 PM
12

Yawn. Your whiny posts about the sexual "inequities" of birth control are insipid and inane.

If men even had the option of a contraceptive pill that was 99.9% effective without reducing sexual pleasure, we'd pay more for it, too.

In the meantime, if you're really so put-out about the politics of the rubber, then you can walk your ass down to Walgreen's and pick up a female condom for only nominally more than the cost of a rubber.

Posted by A Nony Mouse | November 6, 2006 7:47 PM
13

Demo movie. I have to say, those look pretty good.


Posted by Bacon Cheese Egg | November 6, 2006 8:25 PM

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